ENTREPRENEURING: The Ten Commandments for Building a Growth Company

by Steven C. Brandt ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 4, 1982

Unabashedly, an elitist's guide to entrepreneurship--for those intent on launching (or nurturing) a company with a $25 million annual sales potential within five years of start-up. Brandt (Stanford Business School) eschews copybook detail for grand strategies. First, limit participation in a new venture to persons who can agree upon and contribute to the achievement of its purpose. Then, define the firm's business in terms of precisely what goods or services customers can be induced to buy. (A nod here to Ted Levitt's classic Harvard Business Review article, ""Marketing Myopia."") Also advised: practicing management by objective; recruiting employees with records of accomplishment; rewarding performance; maintaining a detached viewpoint; and monitoring cash flow. Brandt's key canons, however, deal with preparing and working from a sound business plan. He goes so far as to spell out, with summary case studies, the organization and contents of an ideal presentation; the checklist runs from a statement of goals through market analysis, staffing, financial projections, and division of ownership spoils. (A lengthy appendix includes an actual business plan drafted by the management of Cdex Corp. to raise the $500,000 needed to set up shop as an electronics publisher.) The initial documentation, Brandt concedes, ""may turn out to be nothing more than an exercise."" But he's hedged by a tenth directive which mandates constant review and revision of business plans to take account of changes in the marketplace, or elsewhere. In sum: the route to the mountaintop--leaving the finer points of ascent to the discretion of the climber.

Pub Date: June 4, 1982

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Addison-Wesley

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1982

Categories: NONFICTION